Sutja’s Metaphysical Circus: White Noise’s 1969 Release Reviewed
Weirdness has never felt this good.
Today and everyday (and I know this sounds very typical – well, I don't care) since I was very young I felt quite apart from the rest and when I reached the adulthood I really knew that being apart from the rest was what suited me better. As you might know, being on your own lets you experiment with total freedom and keeps you far away from distractions and stupid problems (most known as common problems).
I'm not going to talk about the current situation (I might write a letter somedaysoon, one of those letters no one reads) but I really want to emphasize about the idea of being creative no matter what problems or different situations you have. No matter how disgusting is what you see or feel when you're walking outside in “real life”, just face it and do it in a very creative way. We're all fucked up – or maybe not – but it depends on us, in how we face those situations. Everything you see has at least two or three or twenty two sides, and by sides I mean “possibilities” so please, take at least two and then ten and then up to the infinity. Smell the essence of authentic freedom, fight for the right of playing your own role in this life and exercise everyday or consider yourself dead – dead in life is how we call it and it is a very common and terrible thing – look around.
That being said, thank god for the rare, for the precious and wonderful freaks, for the authentic scientists of the unknown, for the discoverers of alternate worlds and for the magnificent fools. This one is for you, me and everybodyelse, this is the story of a beautiful thing created by a group of visionaries called the White Noise.
Sound, without sound, love without sound, sound,…
David Vorhaus was an american-born musician who studied electronics and played classical bass at different symphony orchestras, he was a very passionate guy deeply interested in electronic experimentation, invented the kaleidophon instrument and owned the kaleidophon studio in Camden Town, London. In 1968 David decided to make something that was out of his time and he truly did with the help of some of his friends…
One of them was Delia Derbyshire, a truly inspiring icon of that time who had worked for many years at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. She created (among other great compositions) the music theme of Dr. Who and intensely studied maths and the art of tape looping. In the other side, the experimented tv composer and sound technician (also from the BBC) David Hogdson joined the team too.
The vocalists John Whitman, Annie Bird and Val Shaw played such an important role not only because of the sound treatment (which is simply amazing) but also because of the peculiar execution.
They went to the Kaleidophon studio and recorded two tracks, at that time Vorhaus met Chris Blackwell from Island Records and requested a deal for a single that didn't fancy the ears of Chris. Island Records was interested on an album and after a year working on it White Noise released An Electric Storm (1969). No press, no gigs, no nothing,…
MANY SOUNDS HAVE NEVER BEEN HEARD – BY HUMANS: SOME SOUND WAVES YOU DON’T HEAR – BUT THEY REACH YOU. ‘STORM STEREO’ TECHNIQUES COMBINE SINGERS, INSTRUMENTALISTS AND COMPLEX ELECTRONIC SOUND. THE EMOTIONAL INTENSITY IS AT A MAXIMUM
I could speak for hours about each track of this album but I do seriously prefer you to listen and to judge for yourself. This is one of those pieces that breaks all the rules and helps you find your own place in this world.
In 1968 the British youth was immersed in a post-war/anti-war movement and like in the other countries the art begin to flow differently and transformed into a reflection of what was going on. Everything you could see and hear in art or music had a very experimental vibe and that's because at that time they had a truly fascinating interest in experimenting with the unknown as a form of freedom. The magic of the different techniques such as the magnetic tape looping were implementing and the first synthesizers were showing up (like the EMS VCS 3 created in London in 1969) – the possibilities were endless and everything was about to explode.
The perfect recipe:
And she said:
“Firebird fly high fly free, I can't hold you down, you're too wild for me”.
Such a powerful spell. Thousands of soldiers burning in flames, too many evils (turning a blind eye) none of them has ever felt love, a barrel of tasty yen-pox, your brain is melting ice ready to serve accompanied with some cheap-expired whiskey, dissected foxes dressed in black suits working as congressmen, never lose the spirit – they're coming for you.
Tip: Take a pause and think – We're all influenced by people (idols or icons) that most of them were refused by everyone at some point of his career and some of them weren't adored until they passed away. They decided to live their lives in a very unique way, dedicating all their energy to do what they loved the most and overcoming all the obstacles no matter what difficulties they had. In other words, they gave zero fucks to what people thought about them.
It is normal to feel displaced, feeling displaced is good for you, being on your own is the right way to go.
My favs: “Love Without Sound”, “My Game Of Loving”, “Firebird” & “Your Hidden Dreams”
